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Historically it has been very difficult to harden the surface of stainless steels without the loss of corrosion resistance. A novel low temperature carburization process developed by Swagelok Co. which greatly improves the wear resistance of stainless steel has accomplished this feat. This project has studied the friction and wear behavior of low temperature carburized AISI 316L; 1.) Sliding against hard materials, 2.) Sliding under a range of contact stresses and sliding speeds, and 3.) The relationship of wear resistance to the properties of the surface hardened region. It was found that low temperature carburization provided an immense improvement in wear resistance when sliding against hard materials, and this improvement is maintained under stresses and sliding speeds that are too severe for non-treated stainless steels. Furthermore, the improvement in wear resistance was found to be heavily dependent on the hardness and thickness of the case hardened region. |
